Julia Stiles facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Julia Stiles
Stiles in 2007
Born	Julia O'Hara Stiles (1981-03-28) March 28, 1981 (age 44) New York City, U.S.
Education	Columbia University (BA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Preston J. Cook ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	3

Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American actress. She was born and grew up in New York City. Julia started acting at age 11 with the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.

Her first movie role was a small part in I Love You, I Love You Not (1996) when she was 15. She then got a main role in Wicked (1998). For this, she won an award at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Julia became very well-known for her roles in teen movies. These include 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Down to You (2000), and Save the Last Dance (2001). She has won a Teen Choice Award and two MTV Movie Awards. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

She also acted in movies like Mona Lisa Smile (2003) and The Omen (2006). Many people know her as Nicky Parsons from the Bourne action movies (2002–2016).

Outside of movies, Julia played Lumen Pierce in the TV show Dexter (2010). This role earned her nominations for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. She also starred in the web series Blue (2012–2014). For Blue, she won two IAWTV Awards for Best Actress. From 2017 to 2020, she was Georgina Ryland in the TV series Riviera. She also starred in the Amazon series The Lake (2022–2023).

Early Life and School

Julia Stiles was born in New York City. Her mom, Judith Newcomb Stiles, was an artist. Her dad, John O'Hara, was a businessman. Julia is the oldest of three children. Her younger siblings are John Junior and Jane, who is also an actress. Her family background includes English, Irish, and Italian roots.

She began acting when she was 11 years old. She performed with the La MaMa Theatre Company in New York. Julia went to Columbia University and earned a degree in English literature in 2005. She almost didn't take her first Bourne movie role because of college exams. She even took a semester off for the first two Bourne films.

Acting Career

Movies and TV Shows

Julia started auditioning for TV shows in 1993 and movies in 1996. Her first TV role was in 1993 on the mystery show Ghostwriter.

Her first movie was I Love You, I Love You Not (1996). She also had small parts in The Devil's Own (1997) and Wide Awake (1998). Her first main role was in Wicked (1998). A critic said she was "the darling of the 1998 Sundance Film Festival." She then appeared in the TV miniseries The '60s in 1999.

When she was 17, Julia was cast as Kat Stratford in 10 Things I Hate About You. She starred with Heath Ledger in this movie, which was a modern version of a Shakespearean play. She won an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Female Performance. Critics in Chicago called her the most promising new actress that year.

Her next main role was in Down to You (2000). This movie was not liked by critics. However, Julia and her co-star Freddie Prinze, Jr. were nominated for a Teen Choice Award for their chemistry. She then acted in two more movies based on Shakespeare's plays. She played Ophelia in Hamlet (2000) and Desdemona in O (2001).

Julia's next big success was Save the Last Dance (2001). She played an aspiring ballerina who moves to Chicago after her mother dies. At her new school, she learns hip-hop dance. This role won her two more MTV awards for Best Kiss and Best Female Performance. She also won a Teen Choice Award for a fight scene. Rolling Stone magazine called her "the coolest co-ed" and put her on their cover. She said she did all her own dancing in the movie.

Stiles being interviewed by Mark Steines in 2007

Julia appeared in the movie The Business of Strangers (2001). She played a clever secretary who gets revenge on her boss. Her co-star, Stockard Channing, was very impressed by her acting. Julia has said the Bourne movies were very important for her career. She felt they changed action movies, especially for female characters.

Her small role as Nicky Parsons in The Bourne Identity (2002) grew bigger. She had more screen time in The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and an even larger role in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

Between the Bourne films, she was in Mona Lisa Smile (2003). She played Joan, a student at Wellesley College in 1953. Her art professor, played by Julia Roberts, encouraged her to become a lawyer. Julia also played a college student in The Prince & Me (2004). Her character falls in love with a Danish prince. In 2006, Julia starred in The Omen, a remake of a horror movie. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) is her highest-earning movie so far.

Later, Julia acted in Between Us (2012) and the comedy It's a Disaster (2012). She also had a small but important role in the British-American movie Closed Circuit (2013). In 2014, she starred in the thriller Out of the Dark.

In 2015, Julia returned as Nicky Parsons in Jason Bourne, the fifth movie in the Bourne series. She also played Courtney, a mother, in The Great Gilly Hopkins (2016).

Julia played a big role in 10 episodes of the TV series Dexter in 2010. For this, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. She also played Maisy-May in the Canadian Amazon Prime series The Lake (2022–2023).

Stage Performances

Julia's first theater roles were in plays by John Moran from 1993 to 1998. In 2002, she played Viola in Shakespeare in the Park's production of Twelfth Night.

In 2004, she made her West End stage debut in London. She starred opposite Aaron Eckhart in the play Oleanna. She played the role of Carol again in 2009 on Broadway.

Other Work

Julia appeared in the music video for Cyndi Lauper's song "Sally's Pigeons" in 1993. In 2001, she hosted Saturday Night Live. She even made fun of then-President George W. Bush's daughter, Jenna Bush.

Julia also started directing films. She wrote and directed a short film called Raving in 2007. Her first full-length movie as a director, Wish You Were Here, was released in 2025.

Personal Life

Julia has also worked with Habitat for Humanity. She helped build houses in Costa Rica. She also worked with Amnesty International to help young people in immigration detention. In 2004, Marie Claire magazine wrote about her visit to a youth center in Pennsylvania.

Julia used to be a vegan, which means she didn't eat any animal products. She stopped being vegan because she developed anemia and found it hard to get enough nutrients while traveling. She describes herself as a feminist and has written about it.

She is a big fan of baseball and the New York Mets team. She even threw the first pitch at one of their games in 2006.

In September 2017, Julia married Preston J. Cook, a camera assistant. They worked together on the movie Blackway. They have three children.

Selected Filmography

Movies

Television

Theme Park

Theatre

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Julia Stiles para niños